Heidelberg Catechism

Question 76. What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and drink the his shed blood?

Answer: It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life (a). But it means more. Through the Holy Spirit , who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ’s blessed body. (b) And so, although he is (c) in heaven and we are on earth, we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. (d) And we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit, as member of our body are by one soul. (e) 

(Scriptural proofs after the fold.)

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Sunday's Hymn: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

—Isaac Watts

 Hamburg

 Rockingham

Folk tune

The Gettys - Hamburg

Other hymns, worship songs, prayers, sermons excerpts, or quotes posted today:

• Searcher of Hearts, From Mine Erase at The Happy Wonderer
• God your everlasting light at The Upward Call
• He Shall Reign Forever! at Theology for Girls
• Your Love, Poured into the Heart of Jesus from Trevin Wax
• Your weekly dose of Spurgeon: Poor exchanges at Pyromaniacs
• He Hath Said at Tried With Fire

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Linked Together: With God

On the Other Side
What awaits the believer after death? Kevin DeYoung writes:

In trumpeting the good news of cosmic renewal let us not lose sight of the hope that anchors the believer in hard times and is the reality awaiting us on the other side of suffering and death: we really do go to heaven when we die.

Read Away from the Body and at Home with the Lord.

In a Beetle’s Hole
Here’s a post on the same subject as my post yesterday at Out of the Ordinary, and starting with the same child’s question, too, explaining why it’s important for us to understand that God is present in a dung beetle’s hole (Aaron Denlinger).